ated in Ireland as an heiress, she had not been taught to
write, lest she should marry without the consent of her elder brother
guardian. She felt that we owed her undying gratitude for bestowing her
hand and fortune on our grandfather, who was but a yoeman, even if "he
did have a good leasehold, ride a high horse, wear spurs, and have
Hamilton blood in his veins." She made us familiar with the battle of
the Boyne and the sufferings in Londonderry, in both of which her
great-grandfather had shared, but was incapable of that sectarian
rancor, which marks so many descendents of the men who met on those
fields of blood and fought for their convictions.

In April, 1816, father moved from Pittsburg out to the new village of
Wilkinsburg; took with him a large stock of goods, bought property, built
the house in which I first remember him, and planted the apple tree
which imprinted the first picture on my memory. But the crash which
followed the last war with England brought general bankruptcy; the
mortgages on Col. McNair's estate made the titles valueless, and this,
with the fall of his real estate in Pittsburg, reduced father to
poverty, from which he never recovered.

CHAPTER II.

PROGRESS IN CALVINISM--HUNT GHOSTS--SEE LA FAYETTE.--AGE, 6-9.

My parents were members of the Covenanter Congregation, of which Dr.
John Black was pastor for forty-five years. He was a man of power, a
profound logician, with great facility in conveying ideas. To his pulpit
ministrations I am largely indebted for whatever ability I have to
discriminate between truth and falsehood; but the church was in
Pittsburg, and our home seven miles away, so we seldom went to meeting.
The rules of the denomination forbade "occasional hearing." Father and
mother had once been "sessioned" for stopping on their way home to hear
the conclusion of a communion service in Dr. Brace's church, which was
Seceder. So our Sabbaths were usually spent in religious services at
home. These I enjoyed, as it aided my life-work of loving and thinking
about God, who seemed, to my mind, to have some special need of my
attention. Nothing was done on that day which could have been done the
day before, or could be postponed till the day after. Coffee grinding
was not thought of, and once, when we had no flour for Saturday's
baking, and the buckwheat cakes were baked the evening before and warmed
on Sabbath morning, we were all troubled about the violation of the
day.

Th